Restaurant: Wonder Tree

Well, I'm used to going to the airport just in time, and Helen likes to make it a bit early. And today was our day to fly together. Guess who won..?

She took the day off, texted me, then came and kidnapped me from the office. I didn't really have a good excuse to protest, so off we went (having weighed our hand luggage with the scale she was foresighted enough to bring and I wasn't. Made Gatwick in plenty of time, dropped off the checked luggage, and went in search of food.

The place was packed. Families on half term, groups of mates on what looked like stag/hen parties, footie followers. Wetherspoons was jammed, not a reasonable hope of a table or of service. Nando's had a queue, too. Which was how we ended up in Wonder Tree - a small queue, but we were seated quickly.

Unfortunately, the service wasn't as quick - they were busy, and we were left quite a while waiting to order. Handy we had so much time to spare - and as we were sat right under a departure board, we could see exactly how much. We ordered calamari (for her) and satay chicken skewers (for me) as starters, a burger (for her) and steak frites (for me). Interestingly, I wasn't asked how I'd like my steak cooked. Shared a bottle of wine, and one of tap water.

..Well, that's what we ordered. We were duly brought a bottle of tap water - no glasses. Quite some time we spent, gazing at it, until the glasses arrived, with a couple of wine glasses and a bottle in a cooler. After that, things seemed to speed up a bit - our starters came, and while Helen really liked her calamari, I have to say I wasn't at all impressed with my chicken: just not actually tasty, and the sauce, while spicy, wasn't a hit either. Must have been an aberration, though, because both our mains were gorgeous, my steak melting with blue cheese - and we both had delicious, skin-on fries. We had time for dessert, which was an Eton mess for her, an "ice cream cookie sandwich" for me - which turned out to be a scoop of ice cream, sandwiched between two cookies, and the whole drizzled in various sauces. And delicious! Sadly, I couldn't manage the second cookie, though it would have been lovely.. Another wait to grab someone to pay, and it wasn't exactly cheap. But the food was mostly excellent, and it is family friendly. And they do say to mention if you're in a hurry..

In Ireland now, and it's sweltering hot. I think Lough Derg is the destination of choice for tomorrow - we'll play it by ear!